


inhabit

by magicianprince



Series: domesticity [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Domesticity, Established Relationship, M/M, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-11-15
Packaged: 2018-01-01 15:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianprince/pseuds/magicianprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei is startled awake by the feeling of something icy pressing into his leg.</p>
            </blockquote>





	inhabit

**Author's Note:**

> drown me in nagisa/rei
> 
> commission for velothi

Rei is startled awake by the feeling of something icy pressing into his leg. Gasping, he opens his eyes blearily and tries to scoot away; Nagisa's chilled toes follow, wriggling back into his space easily.

"Stop that," Rei mutters.

"It's _cold,_ " replies Nagisa, burying his face against Rei's neck. Rei jumps in surprise, making a muffled noise of complaint. Even the tip of Nagisa's nose feels like ice. "We need, like...fifty more blankets." 

Rei lifts his face slightly in order to avoid getting the ends of Nagisa's hair in his mouth. Nagisa shifts his feet farther up Rei's leg, body curling into a ball. The blanket slips off up to Rei's ankles. "Sixty," he grumbles, not ready to be awake and to be so _cold_ yet.

"Seventy," murmurs Nagisa. He slides his hands up under Rei's shirt, seeking out any heat he can find.

"Nagisa!" Rei complains loudly, jerking away. He smacks Nagisa's roaming hands away from himself, ignoring the resulting whine. "Has the alarm gone off yet?" 

"No," says Nagisa sullenly. As soon as he answers, a familiar beeping noise reaches their ears. 

Sighing, Rei rolls over and turns off the alarm on the nightstand. He supposes that he should be grateful--he could have been woken up much earlier. Rei shivers, realizing just how cold it really is now that he's fully awake. Yesterday morning hadn't seemed near this chilly, and the lack of Nagisa's freezing toes is now clear to him in ways that he hadn't fully appreciated before.

Nagisa returns to burrowing as close to Rei as he possibly can. "Let's just stay in bed all day," he suggests.

"You can't, you have work," Rei replies instantly. As tempting as lazing around with Nagisa sounds, Nagisa doesn't have a winter break like Rei does. 

"They'd give me the day off," argues Nagisa. He pulls away to frown over at Rei, and the way his bedhead sticks out in all conceivable directions has Rei smiling fondly. (He really has been living with Nagisa for too long, if someone else's bedhead brings him such a feeling of contentment.)

Nagisa is most likely right, though; the bookstore owner loves him to pieces and would probably happily give him the day off. "Save it," says Rei either way, "for when we actually have something planned."

"Ohhhh," says Nagisa slowly, purposely elongating the sound. "Is that a promise of a date, Rei-chan?"

"We're not in high school anymore," Rei says, embarrassed. "You don't have to ask."

Nagisa kisses him quickly and with closed lips, avoiding the annoyance of bad morning breath. "It's too early to make me fall for you all over again," he scolds, laughing.

There are seven sappy responses that pop into Rei's head all at once. He clears his throat. "That's..."

"Ugh," Nagisa says before Rei can think of something normal to tell him. "I really don't wanna get up."

Rei rolls over in order to look at the clock. "You still have enough time for a shower."

"Really? Well, then...wish me luck, Rei-chan." Nagisa takes Rei's hand solemnly. "Will you still love me even if I'm an icicle?"

"Go take a shower," Rei retorts, shoving his face into his pillow.

Nagisa takes a deep breath, preparing himself, before nearly leaping out of the bed. He yelps at the rush of freezing air around him, darting over to the dresser. Rei can see his shoulders quaking even from his position lying down.

He dozes off again sometime after the shower starts up and wakes after the sound of the spray abruptly cuts off. He would probably be able to fall back into a deeper sleep if he tried, but he can hear Nagisa brushing his teeth, and all at once the idea feels--not wrong, exactly, but not one that Rei wants to act on. Taking a deep breath, as Nagisa had, he sits up in bed and throws off the covers.

It's absolutely freezing. The shiver begins in his toes and travels the height of his entire body. Rei shoves his glasses onto his nose with shaking hands, glancing around the room for something warm to put on over his pajamas. Eventually, he gives up and goes to look for socks. He slips on the first matching pair that he can find. They don't help instantly, but Rei exhales evenly and exits the bedroom, hoping that once he starts moving around he'll warm up sooner.

Nagisa spits into the sink just as Rei arrives at the bathroom door. Averting his eyes, Rei asks, "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Rei-chan, you're on winter break," Nagisa says, and the tone of protest in his voice urges Rei to meet his gaze. "Sleep in every once in a while!"

"I can't help it," says Rei indignantly. "I'm too used to waking up with you."

The two of them grow quiet. 

Nagisa is fighting back an obvious smile. Rei wonders how, after all this time, it still feels like he and Nagisa are newlyweds.

"I-...in any case. You left your scarf on the floor next to the couch again. Just in case you forgot," he stammers, trying to move past the awkward moment. "What did you want for breakfast?"

"Anything is fine," Nagisa tells him, grinning widely. Rei can _hear_ the 'as long as Rei-chan makes it' at the end of the sentence and flees towards the kitchen. It's unbelievable, how sappy Nagisa manages to be without seeming the least bit embarrassed.

He spends a little too long standing over the stove and deciding what to make, but he's distracted by the shivers traveling up his body. Once he's settled on cooking fried eggs, he flicks the stove on and takes a couple of eggs from the refrigerator.

"Hey, do you know how to make hot chocolate? Home-made hot chocolate, I mean?" asks Nagisa, entering the kitchen with freshly blow-dried hair.

"As a matter of fact," replies Rei, "I do. Would you like some later?"

"Why not right now?" Nagisa ducks under Rei's arm, pouting.

Rei is still shivering from the cold; he doubts anything short of turning the heating up twenty degrees will make the apartment feel any warmer. He uses a spatula to flip both of the eggs in the pan over to their other sides to cook. "There's probably not enough time. You have to leave soon."

"Let's have some before we go to bed tonight," Nagisa suggests. "Oh, and I was serious about the blanket thing--do you wanna come with me to get a couple?"

"When should we go?"

"Hmm...tomorrow? How's that?"

"One more night and one more morning," Rei muses. He doesn't mean to think out loud, but the thought of going to sleep and waking up significantly less chilled comes as a huge relief. It might be even more difficult to get out of bed in the morning, waking up that warm, but it's a sacrifice that Rei's willing to make. "Tomorrow's fine with me." The eggs on the stove are just how Nagisa likes them; Rei reaches over and turns off the burner with an air of finality.

"Oh, the eggs are done? Great!" Nagisa chirps. He moves away from Rei's side and over to the cabinet, grabbing the first plate he sees. "I'm gonna get some food and a bento on the way to work, so don't worry about making anything else. You should go sleep some more," he adds, giving Rei a stern look that doesn't intimidate him at all.

"I'll do something relaxing today," Rei promises. Nagisa holds out his plate and Rei uses the spatula to carefully place each egg on it. Devouring it all within a matter of a three seconds, Nagisa offers him an approving nod, drops his plate into the sink, and then turns to kiss Rei on the cheek.

"Thanks for breakfast," he says cheerfully. "You said earlier that I left my scarf by the couch, right? Do you remember where my gloves were?"

Rei ends up searching through the apartment for said pair of gloves while Nagisa shrugs into his coat. Usually, he has a knack for finding the things that Nagisa's lost; however, today Nagisa's gloves refuse to be located. Rei retrieves his own black pair from the bedroom and brings them out to where Nagisa is waiting by the front door, already wearing his coat and scarf.

"I can't find them, so just use mine for today," he offers.

Nagisa makes a face, but accepts them either way. "Yours are boring," he says accusingly. Nagisa's own missing pair is bright yellow, like his scarf, while his coat is a vibrant red. The bright colors suit his personality, Rei thinks.

"They're warm," Rei points out. 

Still appearing skeptical, Nagisa slides each glove on one at a time. They're a little big for him, but they must fit some sort of standard, because a moment later he smiles. "I'll see you later, then!"

Rei decides that he likes the black and red and yellow combination, but keeps it to himself, knowing that Nagisa doesn't own much black clothing and probably doesn't plan to anytime soon. "See you later," he replies, the corners of his mouth tilting up. He bends the slight distance downwards in order to receive Nagisa's goodbye kiss. When he tries to move away, Nagisa tangles his fingers in his hair firmly and tugs him back, mouth meeting Rei's lips once, twice, three more times, quick kisses that leave Rei feeling the warmest he's been all morning.

"Done," Nagisa announces, letting his hands fall from Rei's hair.

Rei blinks. "What was that for?" 

Something in Nagisa's demeanor changes. "We're not in high school anymore," he tells Rei. His voice is quiet, and he holds Rei's gaze easily, smiling. "You don't have to ask."

Rei is sure that it's not just wishful thinking to assume that Nagisa saves most of his serious moments for him. He'd thought, back when the two of them had first met, that Nagisa was a person who never took anything seriously--and although it's true that Nagisa is one of the most free-spirited and genuinely joyful people that Rei knows, he has a side that he doesn't show as often. It still manages to catch Rei off guard, every time.

"Yeah," says Rei. Nagisa needs to be at work in time and he needs time to stop at the convenience store, but the bookshop owner will still adore him even if he is a few minutes late. Rei decides that he has time to fit in a few quick kisses of his own before Nagisa goes.

:

Rei had meant it when he'd promised to relax, but winter break, even in high school, has always left him with a hollow feeling--if he goes too long without being productive, it becomes like an itch that needs to be scratched. He's in the process of arranging the vacuum back into its usual position inside the bedroom closet when Nagisa gets home from work, calling out a greeting. Rei checks the time. It's early evening, still too early for dinner.

"Welcome home," Rei calls back. 

"Rei-chan!" is what Nagisa says next, and he sounds so exasperated that Rei fears for a moment that he actually did something truly wrong, until he leaves the bedroom and finds Nagisa frowning at the two bottles of cleaning solution on the kitchen counter. Rei winces. He'd meant to put those away. "Did you clean everywhere, or just in the kitchen?"

Adjusting his glasses over the bridge of his nose, Rei thinks for a moment of lying. "Everywhere," he admits.

Nagisa merely stares for a second. Soon enough, he bursts out laughing. "Relaxing isn't really that hard, you know?"

Rei tries not to be too offended, knowing that Nagisa is just concerned. "It is for me."

"Well! That just means we have an excuse to watch at least five movies in a row!" says Nagisa, seeming a little too pleased to be thinking anything good.

Processing the outrageous number, Rei balks. " _Five?_ "

"Five," Nagisa agrees. "I know the perfect ones to help you relax!"

If Nagisa's picking, that means...horror films. Rei gulps; he's not like Makoto, who startles at anything, but he's not overly fond of scary movies either. On top of not holding any genuine interest towards them, he's spent one too many nights with Nagisa practically climbing into his lap, yelling delightedly into his ear as yet another high school girl on the television meets an unfortunate (and _bloody_ ) end. He glances at the TV and then to Nagisa.

Nagisa stares back at him with expectant eyes.

"Alright," Rei says weakly.

Pumping his fist in the air, Nagisa dives towards the cabinet underneath the television, digging through the stacks of movies inside for--what Rei assumes is--every horror movie that they own. "Should we start with something bloody or something creepy, Rei-chan?"

Rei sighs. "At least take off your coat first."

"Oh! Sorry, it's so cold I didn't notice," explains Nagisa. Still crouching, he unwinds his scarf from around his neck, tossing it down beside the couch. Rei's gloves follow; drawing the line there, Rei helps Nagisa slide his coat from his shoulders and goes to hang it up in the closet. When he comes back, Nagisa is sliding a DVD into the DVD player. 

"Do you still want hot chocolate?"

"Of course!" Nagisa responds without even stopping to think about it. He leaps up and turns to Rei, smiling widely. "Let's go before the movie starts!"

Rei hadn't been entirely sure that they had any cocoa powder, but thankfully there's tin of it in the pantry. Nagisa leans against the stretch of counter next to the stove and watches as Rei gathers the rest of the ingredients, and shuffles obediently out of the way while Rei places a small pot of water on the burner. After the stove has been turned on, Nagisa leans his head against Rei's shoulder. He's been doing that more often, lately. Despite himself, Rei smiles.

"I forgot to tell you," says Nagisa suddenly, "that Mako-chan called on my way home from work. He wants to know what we're doing for New Year's Eve." 

"Just tell him we haven't made plans yet," Rei says.

"Well, I know _that_ , but he probably wants to have a get-together somewhere, and I wanted to ask you about it before we gave up a romantic night or something."

Rei hadn't even thought of that. He swallows nervously. "Do....did you want to do that?" 

"What, stay in for New Year's?" Nagisa looks up at him. "We already stayed in for Christmas. As long as I can kiss you at midnight," he declares, "I don't care where we are."

Rei can't tell if Nagisa is serious or not, but even so, all he can do in response to that is clear his throat loudly and turn his full attention to the water on the stove slowly beginning to boil. Nagisa settles back against his side as naturally as breathing.

:

The two of them sit close with their hot chocolate, and the drink warms them up quickly, but as Nagisa starts the second movie (the first one had actually been good, with an interesting plot, much to Rei's surprise) it starts to grow unbearably cold again. In the end, Rei pauses the film and retreats to the bedroom, tugging the comforter from their bed along after him when he returns to the sofa. Nagisa hums gratefully as he sits back down. He wriggles underneath the blanket, nearly elbowing Rei's side in the process. He rests his frigid toes on Rei's ankles and laughs when Rei almost lets out a shrill scream. 

"I'll keep my feet to myself from now on," he promises, much to Rei's relief, as the movie begins to play again. 

The second film is almost over by the time Rei realizes that he's dozing off, and that Nagisa is in the same state. "Hm," he sighs without meaning to.

"Rei," Nagisa says sleepily, head tucked into the space between Rei's shoulder and neck, "how come this is the only blanket we have?"

Thinking about it for about half a second, Rei murmurs, "We weren't considering it when we first got furniture. The weather was warm then."

Nagisa doesn't respond. Most likely, he's too drowsy to think of a reply. Rei presses his mouth to the top of Nagisa's head gently.

Something in his shoulders uncoils and relaxes.

:

"It's so _cold_ ," Nagisa whines after they've gotten into bed that night. They'd only gotten through those first two movies before they'd both decided that they were too tired to sit through a third. Rei doesn't blame Nagisa for reasserting how chilly it is--Rei can still hardly believe it himself. Nagisa is pressed so close to his side that Rei can feel every rise and fall of his breath and Rei is still shivering. Nagisa, seemingly thinking along the same lines, makes a frustrated noise. "Rei-chan, let's take off our clothes."

Everything in Rei's brain whirls to a stop. "What?" he asks, dumbfounded. Does Nagisa mean...?

"It's how they all do it in the movies, right? Taking off your clothes helps share body heat or something."

Of course--of course Nagisa meant it in an innocent way. Rei feels almost ashamed for assuming anything else. They've seen each other naked so many times, however, that it's easy for Rei to nod his head in agreement. "At this point, I'll try anything," he confesses. Nagisa immediately starts squirming out of his pajamas; Rei mimics him quickly. Pressing close together again is like touching the outside of a mug of fresh hot chocolate.

"It's not that much warmer," Nagisa mourns, after a while. 

His lips are brushing against Rei's neck. Rei tries not to pay too much attention to it. He and Nagisa are pressed chest to chest, with their lower bodies not touching; that had to have been on purpose. He shouldn't let his mind wander. Nagisa's lips brush his skin again, and Rei carefully doesn't move a muscle.

"Hey," says Nagisa. "Are you going to sleep?"

"That depends."

"Can I kiss you?"

Rei gives him a jerky nod. Nagisa kisses him without another word, palm resting against Rei's chest. Rei kisses back with quiet intensity. Nagisa kisses him again and again in the same way that he had at the door that morning, except he lingers this time, scraping his teeth against Rei's bottom lip. His palm glides up Rei's chest until it reaches Rei's face. Nagisa cups his cheek and huddles closer, so close that Rei has to roll over slightly. Nagisa is nearly on top of him. Rei feels flushed all over--he's getting hard, and Nagisa can probably tell. 

Nagisa places his hands on either side of Rei's head and lifts himself up until he's straddling Rei's hips. They stare at each other breathlessly for so long that Rei starts to doubt that anything is actually going to happen, but Nagisa leans down and kisses him again, firm and determined. Rei inhales unsteadily and opens his mouth for Nagisa's tongue, settling one hand on Nagisa's waist. He wraps the fingers of his other hand around both of their cocks, jerking his fist unhurriedly until they're both fully hard. Nagisa laughs fervently against his lips, tangling his fingers in Rei's hair. 

"You've always been-- _ah_ , really good at that," Nagisa tells him, bending to mouth at Rei's throat. Rei tilts his head back obligingly. "Do it--a little faster."

Curling an arm over Nagisa's shoulders, Rei spreads his legs a little farther apart and gasps. He speeds his strokes up as instructed and bites his lip, noisy breaths escaping him. 

"Ah," Nagisa sighs, rolling his hips towards Rei's hand. 

"Nagisa," Rei whimpers. 

Nagisa props himself up on one hand and allows the other to join Rei's in between their bodies. He kisses Rei again, long and deep, until Rei arches up, choking back a moan as he spills over his and Nagisa's hands. Nagisa thrusts his hips once, twice, and then comes, groaning softly. 

It's still cold. Outside, it's probably snowing. Rei throws an arm over his face, exhausted. "Now we both need showers," he laments.

The cheeky grin that Nagisa's wearing is apparent even in his voice. "Come on," he coaxes. "Let's go use up all the hot water, Rei-chan."

Somehow, it's enough to convince him.


End file.
